The annual FoNS-MAD competition returns for 2023, giving students the chance to develop low-cost technologies which have a positive impact on society.

The Faculty of Natural Sciences (FoNS) will launch the Make-A-Difference competition on 18 January, which will run between January to October 2023. Students taking part in this competition stand the chance to present their findings to an expert panel of judges and win prizes of up to £7,000.

The competition is open to all undergraduate FoNS students and to team members from other faculties. Students will form teams to develop an impactful low-cost technology over three phrases.

Finalist teams will undertake an eight-week funded lab placement over the summer, where they will have the chance to develop their idea to the proof-of-concept stage. At the end, finalists will give a presentation of their project to a VIP panel and an invited audience.

The FoNS-MAD competition is an opportunity for students to enhance their CV and attend workshops on intellectual property, business ethics and team building.

There will be a launch event to find out more about the competition and to hear stories from previous winning teams. Speakers this year will include Réka Trón of Multus Biotechnology and Martin Holicky, the co-founder and CEO of Matoha. Both speakers were previous FoNS-MAD competition winners!

You can now register for the launch event.